First ‘Emancipation’ reactions suggest Will Smith’s Hollywood exile won’t be for long

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Under any other circumstances, the hype for next year’s Apple TV dramatic thriller Emancipation would be through the roof, with the project marking Will Smith’s first lead role since he scooped the Academy Award for Best Actor by way of a career-best performance in King Richard.

Of course, the former Fresh Prince torpedoed his reputation and did huge damage to his short and long-term prospects by strolling onto the stage and slapping Chris Rock in the face not long before he returned to collect a trophy that should have marked the peak of his time at the top of the Hollywood ladder, which in turn put Emancipation in a difficult spot.

Director Antoine Fuqua claims it’s the best film he’s made in his entire career, but the project was also called a “lose-lose” situation given that Smith is hardly held in the highest regard by the industry hierarchy. However, the reactions to emerge in the aftermath of Emancipation‘s first screening hint that the potential awards season contender is poised to live up to the hype and then some, which bodes extremely well for the leading man’s chances of being forgiven and welcomed back into the mainstream fold.

“[We] are living proof of survival.” — Mary Elliott, Curator
of American Slavery at the Smithsonian National Museum of
African History and Culture at the screening of Emancipation. pic.twitter.com/JP8Zk8MjcQ

— Tonya J. Williams (@tonyajwillms) October 1, 2022

I had the pleasure of watching the film #Emancipation and can’t begin to tell how powerful this is for OUR community and OUR history. It’s a story of adversity, of resilience, of love, and of triumph.

Thank you Antoine Fuqua and Will Smith for sharing your gifts!#ThisIsPower

— Derrick Johnson (@DerrickNAACP) October 1, 2022

Emancipation doesn’t have an official release date as of yet, but it’ll probably roll out towards the end of next year when the rest of the Oscar-baiting competition tends to arrive. It would be a hell of a thing were Smith to land another Best Actor nomination, and even more shocking were he to do the unthinkable and win, especially when he wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near the ceremony to collect his trophy.